May 16, 2009

Complete Results

IRVINE, Calif. - Thomas Phillips set a school record while winning the 400-meter dash, Jazz Trice captured the 110 high hurdles, and Alex Wilright added a title in the 400 hurdles, as the UC Davis men finished solidly in second place at the Big West Track and Field Championships at UC Irvine on Saturday.

The Aggie women also challenged among the leaders throughout the meet, picking up a first-place from hammer thrower Chidinma Onyewuenyi and another school-record hurdle performance from Sirena Williams, finishing fifth in the team standings.

Cal State Northridge scored 176.5 points to win the men's competition with UC Davis tallying 136.5 for second. Cal Poly (121.5), Long Beach State (109) and UC Santa Barbara (89) rounded out the top five.

Northridge also claimed top honors on the women's side, scoring 198 points to outdistance runner-up Cal Poly which had 114.5. UC Riverside (100.5), Cal State Fullerton (98) and UC Davis (94) followed with UC Irvine (80.5), UCSB (69) and Long Beach State (61.5) completing the standings.

UC Davis, participating in just its second Big West Conference Championship meet after joining the league last year, had five individual champions and four school records between its teams. The Aggies also improved significantly from last year's inaugural apperance when the men took fifth and the women finished eighth.

Last season marked the program's first conference meet since its Div. II membership ended in 2003 and men's coach Jon Vochatzer said it was exciting to experience the kind of chemistry that only championship meets can bring out.

"Last year we went into the meet not knowing what to expect," he said. "We came back this season really ready to go. It was great to watch the kids rally around each other."

Women's coach Deanne Vochatzer echoed those thoughts.

"We have found our team." she said. "I'm really pleased, the whole staff is. This will give us great momentum..

"We've finally found our foothold," she said.

The Aggie men had four individual winners in the two-day meet, including three on Saturday. Trice picked up the first one during the meet's second day, winning his final in 13.85 seconds and leading a 1-2 finish for UC Davis as Polly Gnepa (14.03) took second. Their placings netted the team 18 points.

Phillips followed with his school-record in the 400, crossing in 47.05 to break the previous Aggie-best of 47.26 set last month by Alex Wilright who edged Phillips (47.28) at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational. Phillip's winning time on Saturday also delivered him his second regional-qualifying event after earlier doing so in the 400 hurdles.

Wilright, who already owns a pair of Cal-Nevada Championships in the long hurdles, added a conference title with his time of 50.82. He won the event by nearly two seconds, giving UC Davis 10 points that at the time brought them to within just 13.5 of Northridge.

The Aggies scored in 12 events on Saturday, picking up a second-place from Ethan Ostrom in the pole vault, and fourth-place showings from Igor Seriba in the triple jump, Brock Bennett in the javelin and Jonathan Sees in the 800.

They also earned runner-up placings from both of their relays, including a school-record time of 3:10.28 from its 4x400 squad of Matt Council, Andre Gaston, Wilright and Phillips. The quartet had a great battle with host UC Irvine, finishing second by just .06 and narrowly missing a regional berth.

The 4x100 relay - which had decathlete Robert Neely in the anchor spot - crossed in 41.16, trailing only Northridge in a race lauded by Jon Vochatzer as indicative of how the team responded to the challenge..

"We had a great meet," said Jon Vochatzer. "A lot of kids really stepped up."

The women hovered near the top of the standings as well, sitting in second place after 14 events before finishing in fifth. Onyewuenyi got it rolling with her early win in the hammer, coming close to her school record in the event with a mark of 183-08. Ashley Hearn added six points with her third-place finish.

It continued on the track with Lorin Scott, who opened her day with a third in the 1,500, posting a regional-qualifying time of 4:26.76 that also improved her No. 5 standing on the program's all-time list.

Williams then erased her own school record in the 100 hurdles for the fifth time this year, dropping it from 13.76 set last week to 13.70. She finished second in the race.

Ugo Eke, who set a school mark and qualified for regionals in the 400 during Friday's prelims at 54.60, went below 55 seconds for the second day in a row, taking third in the final in 54.77.

Other top-five performances came from Scott who came back from her great showing in the 1,500 to take fifth in the 5,000, and from Onyewuenyi who was fifth in the shot put to complete a busy day for her that delivered 15 points for the Aggies.

UC Davis will continue its season in two weeks when 15 competitors travel to the NCAA Regional Championships at Eugene, Ore.

BIG WEST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Irvine, Calif. (UC Irvine)
Final
Winners and UC Davis results

MEN
TEAM - 1. Cal State Northridge, 176.5; 2. UC DAVIS, 136.5; 3. Cal Poly, 121.5; 4. Long Beach State, 109; 5. UC Santa Barbara, 89; 6. UC Riverside, 63.5; 7. UC Irvine, 62.5; 8. Cal State Fullerton, 58.5
100 - 1. Deshawn Waters, CSN, 10.53... 6. Polly Gnepa, 10.89.
400 - 1. Thomas Phillips, UCD, 47.05... 4. Matt Council, 48.28
8001- 1. Ryan Martin, UCSB, 1:49.85... 4. Jonathan Sees, 1:51.82.
110 HH - 1. Jazz Trice, UCD, 13.85... 2. Polly Gnepa, 14.03.
400H - 1. Alex Wilright 50.82... 7. Nolan Frazier, 54.48.
4x100 - 1. Çal State Northridge, 40.55... 2. UC Davis, 41.16.
4x400 - 1. UC Irvine, 3:10.22... 2. UC Davis, 3:10.28.
1500 - 1. Derek Thomas, CP, 3:46.19... 5. Russell Pfaff, 3:49.64; 7. Jonathan Peterson, 3:50.52; 8. Jonathan Sees, 3:51.01.
5,000 - 1. Chad Hall, UC Riverside, 14:26.59... 9. Jonathan Peterson, 14:40.07; 13. Patrick Parsel, 14:45.10; 22. Scott Himmelberger, 14:54.38; 25. Kindu Ejigu, 15:10.31.
TJ - 1. Rolando Felizola, CSN, 15.73 (51-07.25)... 5. Igor Seriba, 14.87 (48-09.50); 6. Tolu Wusu, 14.87 (48-09.50).
PV - 1. Connor Landry, CP, 5.05 (16-06.75)... 2. Ethan Ostrom, 5.05 (16-06.75); 6. Jamie Feaster, 4.90 (16-00.75); Joey Farkash, NH.
DT - 1. Derek Cooper, CSN, 52.31 (171-07)... 7. Jake Fuller, 48.25 (158-04); 16. Scott Pierro (44.03 (144-05); 18. Ed Orgon, 43.08 (141-04).
JV - 1. Lance Gonzalez, CSN, 63.76 (209-02)... 4. Brock Bennett (56.70 (186-10); 8. Lance Walkington, 55.02 (180-06); 9. Will Guthrie, 54.38 (178-05); 15. Matt Roberts, 49.00 (160-09).

WOMEN
TEAM - 1. Cal State Northridge, 198; 2. Cal Poly, 114.5; 3. UC Riverside, 100.5; 4. Cal State Fullerton, 98; 5. UC DAVIS, 94; 6. UC Irvine, 80.5; 7. UC Santa Barbara, 69; 8. Long Beach State, 61.5.
400 - 1. Shelese Ruffin, CSN, 53.53... 3. Ugo Eke, 54.77.
800 - 1. Brenda Williams, UCR, 2:07.01... 8. Jenna Gailey, 2:23.32.
1500 - 1. Brenda Martinez, UCR, 4:17.88... 3. Lorin Scott, 4:26.76; 8. Jenna Gailey, 4:39.91.
100H - 1. Lauren Williams, CSF, 13.37... 2. Sirena Williams, 13.70.
400H - 1. Jhana Samuels, CP, 60.18... 6. Katie Maltester, 63.21.
5,000 - 1. Julianne Masciana, CSF, 16:47.00... 5. Lorin Scott, 17:17.12; 10. Caitlin Fitzgerald, 17:28.22; Krista Drechsler, DNF.
TJ - 1. Allison Wilder, UCR, 12.96 (42-06.25)... 6. Stephanie Eckels, 11.94 (39-02.25); T10. Kayla Green, 11.38 (37-04.00); 16. Ofunne Okwudiafor, 11.09 (36-04.75).
SP - 1. Julie Dufresne, CP, 16.07 (52-08.75)... 5. Chidinma Onyewuenyi, 13.67 (44-10.25); 9. Ashley Hearn, 12.84 (42-01.50).
HT - 1. Chidinma Onyewuenyi, UCD, 55.99 (183-08)... 3. Ashley Hearn, 50.25 (164-10).